Vietnam officials face bird flu outbreaks

HANOI, Vietnam, March 5 (UPI) -- Vietnam officials say they are closely monitoring bird flu cases that have killed 54 people, including two this year, since 2003.

Representatives of the Preventive Medicine and Environment Agency said they would team with the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology to work on the problem, the Voice of Vietnam reported.

They plan to provide the chemical Chloramin B for the provinces of Quang Ninh and Ninh Binh, where two bird flu patients died this year and to take samples from suspected patients.

They also have launched nine training courses for medical staff at district and provincial levels in a number of northern and central provinces.

Meanwhile, the disease has broken out in the districts of Gia Rai and Phuoc Long in the southern province of Bac Lieu. More than 12,620 birds have been destroyed there after testing positive for the H5N1 virus.